Plea for advice.

Ok.. A few months ago I received that 20G salt setup and have since decided to give my efforts to setting up a new tank.I've a 155G end drilled that will be my first real foray into the dark and mysterious world of salt.I do have a single 250W MHO lamp and know I'm going to be needing quite a bit more.. perhaps 2 more like units?

I've decided to go with a sump and a skimmer.... good/bad choice?

Sump: what is the proper size sump I'll need to support the 155?

Tons more coming as I take these baby steps.oh.. It will be primarily corals.

Get a crappy looking 75 gallon for a sump. put baffles in it make sure to have enough space for the skimmer. You will need more sand and rock since the rock is part of you filtration...I think. I think you need a mag 10 pump maybe bigger for a return as well.

Will need a couple of water moving pumps also. Lights I have no clue. I used T5HO but am switching to LEDs for everything but zoas and mushrooms.

Decide what salt you are going to use oh and get a RO system. If you get jumping fish you need a top.

Don't think of it in ratios cause not sure how well that works. You want a bigger sump. Once you fill up the display to max then sump to max then turn on pumps and get everything running you may find yourself with no water in your sump since it is so small. Then if you add water so pumps don't run dry and for some odd reason power goes off you will flood since you had to add a lot extra water. Plus trying to keep up with evaporation is easier when you have breathing room and are not rushed

Put the biggest thing you can under that tank that you will still have room to get into, the bigger the better! You want a large refugium area in the middle of it, the larger the fuge the more room for the macro algae to grow and help keep phosphates and nitrates down, and more room for the good bugs to breed in!

Yea.. I'm wrestling with the debate over a fuge.... One side has the posit that why waste tank space on stuff ya don't view for enjoyment so get a skimmer... Others state what you state. Due to space limitations, I'm leaning towards skimmer...(Sorry Jill)... Downside input from the "fuge" side? I accept ALL advice... Bill in Va.

Ok do a display fuge later on. a small drilled tank run on your sump with a small pump so it is low flow, grow fancy macro in there and put a seahorse or pipe fish in there. I had that going for a while, used a 20g long to do it.

On sump size just see what will fit but still give you enough room to get into it and work. I used a 33g long on my old 125g and a 29g on my old 120g. So it really all depends on what will fit! Heck I still dont know if I will use my 33g long sump on my 210g or play with a 40g breeder or go hunt for some other sized tank that will fit